A Game of Thrones Comic Book Series

First of all, a thousand apologies if this is not the right subforum. One gets confused. Anyway, I did a search and I couldn't seem to find a topic anywhere in the George Martin section, so I decided to post one myself.

The first issue of the comic book adaptation of George Martin's A Game of Thrones is now out. The mini-series will come out on a monthly basis, and be followed by a new title for every separate book.

Personally, I wasn't impressed. The words are good - Daniel Abraham's done a great adaptation, using exactly the necessary amount of description and dialogue, with only a few instances of added information, when the dialogue would not be enough to present the information that the reader would otherwise read in the novel.

Problem is, I've already read the novel - and more than once - so the only thing the adaptation can offer me are the visuals. And they are... bland. I have never been impressed with Tommy Patterson's art, and it is nothing to write home about here either. The pouty overly pretty and wavy-haired characters would be much more in place in a teenage girl comic book, and the color scheme - done by Ivan Nunes - is entirely too bright. The comic book is definitely not ugly, but it is also nowhere near the style that I think would suit Martin's gritty world best.

And, sadly, the story shows early signs of PG13-ness. Even though the first issue goes only as far as Daenerys' first meeting with Khal Drogo, there is at least one instance of nudity and borderline sexual cruelty that has been cut. And honestly, A Game of Thrones without the realism, sex, violence and dark visuals doesn't seem like much fun now, does it?

Still, I'll follow the series. Who knows, it might grow on me...

6/10

Has anybody else checked it out. I honestly expected much more than this, although in retrospect I probably shouldn't have.

I'm not a huge comic book person, so I thought it looked pretty cool. But I don't think I'm going to buy it (like you said, I've already read the novel multiple times). The art looks pretty cool to me, but you're correct that it looks a bit too bright and colourful for this gritty series. Maybe they really are toning it down to a more PG-13 approach? I guess we'll have to wait for later volumes, to see if the sex and violence is indeed toned down.

I might pick up the omnibus collection one day, but for now it's more of a curiosity that I'll flip through when I'm at the comic store.